


Rhyme Your Way to His Heart

by Daddy_Clarinetist



Category: Sander Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Bullying, Cute, Fluff, High School, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Virgil needs a hug, compliments, happiness, he gets a kiss instead, i guess, patton is such a sweetheart, positivity, slight angst but not much, spoiler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:04:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daddy_Clarinetist/pseuds/Daddy_Clarinetist
Summary: There’s been so much angst being posted that I thought I’d try to lighten it up with some fluff! (In reality, I’ve been writing this way before the mountain of angst came, but shhhhh...)Patton’s composition teacher decides to try a new activity where they compliment each other. What Virgil gets is the opposite. Patton tries to cheer him up, of course!





	Rhyme Your Way to His Heart

There was no doubt in Patton’s mind; he was absolutely in love. He hadn’t talked that much to the person of his affections, but that was more in fear of scaring him away. From what he knew so far, this boy was the one for him.

  
“He’s perfect!” Patton was telling his best friend Roman during lunch.

  
“Does he even know who you are?” Roman asked.

  
“I don’t know. We’re in the same composition class, but we don’t sit anywhere near each other.”

  
“Why don’t you just go talk to him?”

  
“He probably wouldn’t like me. I’m the exact opposite of him! He’s so quiet most of the time so I’d probably annoy him.”

  
Roman frowned at him. “I’m sure that he would be just fine with you. Yeah, you’re really preppy while he’s more introverted, but I think you guys would balance each other out.”

  
Patton wished that he could agree with that. However, he couldn’t help but think that his love, Virgil, would be super annoyed with him all the time. Patton was usually very optimistic, not having much room for big insecurities like this, but he didn’t want Virgil to think negatively of him. The emo made him want to be good enough.

  
Whenever Virgil was around, Patton’s stomach filled with butterflies. Whenever he tried to talk to the boy, those butterflies felt like they were flying up and clogging his throat. All he could do was stare at the beauty and try not to squeal or choke, watching as Virgil continued to not know of his affections.

  
“Your eyes light up as if there is a horde of lightning bugs living in them whenever you so much as think about him,” Roman told him. “Talk to him.”

  
“He won’t like me,” Patton insisted.

  
“Come on! I wasn’t going to tell you this so that you could figure things out on your own, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you when you’re not obviously staring at him!”

  
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Patton accused, “And I’m not that obvious.”

  
“You kind of are.”

  
“...Do you think Virgil’s noticed?”

  
Roman scoffed. “Please, he’s just as oblivious as you are.”

  
“Hey!”

  
Patton’s composition class was the last period of the day. It was considered a dual enrollment class, meaning that he got both high school and college credit for it. He had to take a test at the college that was in charge of it in order to get in, but writing has always been one of his strongest talents. While he definitely wasn’t nearly as smart as that one kid Logan, he wasn’t the dumbest student like some people thought.

  
There were mostly seniors and juniors in the class, but there were also a few sophomores. Some of the upperclassmen thought that the sophomores were crazy for trying to take a college course, but they were actually doing better than some of the older kids. Patton was a junior himself, as was Virgil.

  
The bell signalling the start of class rang a few seconds after Virgil walked through the door. Patton couldn’t help but admire the boy from where he sat in the front. Virgil immediately made his way to the back corner of the room.

  
“Alright, good afternoon everyone,” Mrs.Jay, the composition teacher, greeted.

  
“Good afternoon,” A few kids mumbled in reply.

  
“Before we get working on our projects today, I need to discuss something with you all. The English classes have decided to do this and I thought that it would be fun for us to do too. Us teachers have noticed a lot of bullying going on, so this assignment will hopefully bring some more positivity to the school. Each day, I’ll pick one of you to choose a name out of a box. The entire class will be tasked with writing good things about that person who is chosen. You’ll put the papers with the compliments in a pile, which will be given to that person. I want you to try to be anonymous, but don’t use that to cheat and write something mean.”

  
Half of the class groaned, but Patton was excited. He loved compliments and positivity. He couldn’t wait to participate.

  
“Now don’t be like that,” Mrs.Jay said. She suddenly brought out a box from behind her. “This will be fun! Come on, let’s see who is first. Who wants to pick a name out of the box?”

  
A few hands raised, and Mrs.Jay picked a girl sitting in the middle. Reaching in, the girl randomly selected a neatly folded piece of paper. She unfolded the small paper and read the name out loud.

  
“Patton.”

  
While Patton was slightly disappointed over the fact that he couldn’t write compliments for someone else this time, he was also excited to see what people would write for him. He was excused from writing anything on paper since he was going to be the recipient, so he was allowed to work on his project. However, he was too distracted to actually write anything. He was too busy staring at Virgil. He couldn’t help but wonder what Virgil was writing about him. The emo would probably leave it anonymous like the teacher suggested doing, but Patton knew what his handwriting looked like (he swears it’s not that creepy!). Patton noticed that Virgil was writing for a tad bit longer than anyone else.

  
Finally, everyone had placed their paper in a pile on the front desk. Mrs.Jay gathered them in her hands, shuffled them so that Patton couldn’t tell whose was whose by when they placed them in the pile, and handed them to the optimist.

  
Patton happily started reading through each page. Most of them were generic, saying things such as “I like your smile” and “Your jokes are funny.” They were positive and fun, Patton loving every one of them. The smile on his face grew once he found the paper with Virgil’s handwriting.

  
It read:

  
_Patton,_

_  
I have to admit that this activity will be hard for me since I barely know anyone in this class, but I can say that I probably know you the best. That’s sad considering we’ve never really talked before, but I observe. Your laugh makes me want to laugh with you. Your smile is contagious as well. Your jokes are better than anyone’s I’ve ever heard before. Everything about you makes me...happy? Yeah, maybe happiness is what I feel around you. It’s too bad that you don’t know who I am, but I’m afraid that I am too anxious to talk to you. Maybe one day I’ll get to be close to you._

  
The letter cut off after that.

  
Patton grinned as he reread Virgil’s letter. It was amazing. He would have went to Virgil straight away to thank him and try to be friends, or even something more, but that would give away that he knew his handwriting. No, Patton had a better idea. He would make Virgil equally as happy when his day of compliments came.

  
That night, Patton ranted to Roman until midnight about how much he loved Virgil.

  
...

  
About a week passed before it finally happened.

  
“Who wants to pick today’s compliment receiver?” Mrs.Jay asked.

Patton’s hand went in the air as it did everyday. He was picked that day, so he immediately shoved his hand into the box and retracted the first piece of paper he touched. Unfolding it, he joyfully exclaimed, “Virgil!”

  
He could see some unhappy looks on a few people’s faces, which bothered him, but he was too excited to think about it too much. He quickly got out a piece of paper and started his letter.

  
He wrote:

  
_Virgil,_

_  
I think that you are a great person! You’re so smart sometimes, and I have enjoyed all of the writing pieces that I’ve read of yours. I wish that I could see you smile more because it’s so pretty. Honestly, you’re amazing. I want to get to know you more so that maybe you could like me as well. It’s too bad that I’m not signing this. I’m too nervous. That’s really unlike me, but you’re so great that it makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter._

  
He didn’t have a romantic mind like Roman did, but he tried his hardest to write something that Virgil would like. He was the last one to finish, but he didn’t mind. He put his paper in the pile so that Mrs.Jay could give it to Virgil. She shuffled the papers before handing it to him.

  
At first Virgil set them to the side as if he did not care to read them. This made Patton sad because he really wanted him to read his note. When all hope seemed to be lost, Virgil grew curious and picked up the pile.

  
He shook his head at the first one, reading it in two seconds. Patton assumed that it was a basic compliment that some people wrote for everyone. On the second one, he took longer to read. As he read, he tried to hide the small smile that grew on his face. Virgil carefully folded that letter and put it in his pocket. Apparently, he really liked that note.

  
However, everything went downhill from there. Virgil started to frown at the third note, and it deepened by the fourth. By the fifth, he had tears running down his face. The sixth made him go to Mrs.Jay and ask if he could hide out in the bathroom for the rest of the period. When she saw him, she frowned and recommended the guidance counselor. He shook his head at that. Since there was only a few minutes of class left, she let him escape.

  
Once he was gone, she went to read the discarded letters. She was curious to see what made him cry. Reading them through, she expected to maybe see some great comments that would make him cry of happiness, but what she found instead made her very angry.

  
“I told you guys not to bully others with these!” Mrs.Jay yelled. She knew that she would have to think of a punishment for the class.

  
When the bell rang, Patton approached Mrs.Jay and asked to read the notes.

  
“Why?” Mrs.Jay questioned.

  
“I want to see if there’s a way I can make him feel better, but first I need to know what people wrote,” Patton explained.

  
Mrs.Jay thought that that was a great idea and handed Patton the pile. He wasted no time in reading through them. He was immediately angered by some of them.

_  
-You’re just a freak who doesn’t belong!_

_  
-You’re a waste of oxygen!_

_  
-It looks like your smelling something_ _foul whenever you try to smile!_  
-You’re so ugly!

_  
-Nobody will ever like you!_

  
These were just some of what were written on the pieces of paper in Patton’s hands.

  
“These are so mean!” Patton exclaimed.

  
“I know,” Mrs.Jay agreed. “I should have made it rule that I had to read them before being passed along. I don’t know why I thought that it would be a good idea to trust that nothing mean would be written. I do wonder which one he kept, though. Hopefully it was something positive.”

  
Patton had a thoughtful look on his face as he searched through the pile again. His eyes widened in realization once he reached the end.

  
“He kept mine.”

  
...

  
That night, Patton called Roman for some help with his plan.

  
“I thought that you were too scared to talk to him,” Roman said confused.

  
“Yeah, but he was really upset and I want to make him feel better. I’m willing to be embarrassed or feel really awkward and nervous if I can get him to smile. I don’t want him to believe in all of the horrible things people wrote!” Patton whined.

  
“Okay...so what did you have in mind?”

  
Patton told him his idea. Roman thought that it was perfect and helped instruct Patton on what to do.

  
...

  
The following day, Virgil sat as far away as he could from the others in his composition class. He ended up having a panic attack the previous night and his only friend Logan had to calm him down the best that he could through a video chat. He told Logan all that had happened, leaving out the part about the letter he kept. It was the only note that made him feel good. He thought that it was probably Patton who had written it, but he had a feeling that he wrote like that to everyone in order to spread positivity.

  
What he didn’t expect was for Patton to sit in the seat directly in front of him and place a handmade book on Virgil’s desk.

  
“What is this?” Virgil asked nervously.

  
“It’s a book I made for you! I hope you’ll enjoy it,” Patton explained.

  
Picking it up, Virgil glanced at the title.

  
_Everything Perfect About You! To Virgil, From Patton_

  
Virgil looked back over at Patton with a questioning stare.

  
“Read it!” Patton urged. Virgil exhaled as he opened it up to the first page.

 __  
‘The rare smile that you give  
Is enough to help me live.’

  
Accompanying the rhyming verse was a cute little drawing of a huge smile. While it wasn’t the best picture in the world, it was still enough to bring a small smile of its own to Virgil’s face while he looked at it.

  
“Awww, you’re already smiling!” Patton cheered quietly.

  
“What exactly is this?” Virgil asked again, forcing himself to stop smiling as he suspiciously eyed the beautiful person in front of him.

  
“It says what it is right there in the title, silly!” Patton laughed. “It’s a book about all of the things I love about you!”

 __  
‘Hearing you laugh is the rarest of things,  
But joy is what it always brings.’

  
“But...why?” Virgil asked.

  
“Well, you were so sad yesterday and I want to cheer you up!” Patton grinned. “I want to show you that anything mean anyone might think, say, or write about you is wrong! You’re a great person and you deserve to embrace that.”

 __  
‘All I can hear is your lovely voice,  
You’ll always be my first choice.’

  
“But how could you even like these things about me? You don’t know me. You’ve probably never even noticed me before yesterday,” Virgil said.

  
“I’ve noticed,” Patton reassured him, unhappy that Virgil was doubting him. “I’ve noticed and I like what I see.”

  
More and more pages were turned as Virgil read them between Patton’s words.

  
“I have to confess that I’ve noticed you way more than you think.”

  
There had to be at least a hundred pages filled with compliments for Virgil, each one of them rhyming.

  
Finally, he made it to the last page.

 __  
‘I have to say one last thing too,  
There’s not enough words to describe how much I love you.’

  
Virgil’s eyes widened as he looked at Patton. Both of their cheeks were painted red, neither knowing what to say. Patton gathered some confidence first.

  
“I know that we’ve never talked before,” Patton whispered, “but I’ve always admired you. I know it’s too soon, but I really do think that I love you.”

  
Virgil felt like he couldn’t speak, so he did the only thing that he could think of. He leaned forward slightly, inviting Patton to kiss him. Patton smiled happily as he closed off the space, letting their dreams come true.


End file.
